$1 Liquid Liner

Happy Monday pretty ladies :) I'm happy to be kickin off the week with a little product review since I haven't done one in a little while since I've been too busy giving stuff away to you guys ;) haha.. I do appologize for my lack of posts, though. We've been doing some cross training bullshit at work & it's gotten the best of me so I've been spending my evenings bitching, watching Lost, watching the Office, & sleeping.

But I swear I'm back to the grind now! Spring has sprung & everybody knows being a bitch when the weather is decent outside is against the rules. Totally uncalled for.

Anyways, E.L.F. and me are besties. They sent me over some liquid liners last week & I've had a chance to try them out and let you guys know what I think. I get a lot of questions about liquid liner & to be quite honest - I've never been the biggest fan of it. It's typically an issue with the brush being too flimsy or too thin & the great thing about E.L.F.'s is that the applicator is really unique. It's in the shape of a pointed brush, but it's not a brush, meaning the bristles won't spread on you. The applicator bends just enough to allow you to create a perfect winged out edge and it's not too thin that you have to go over it 6 times in order to get a decently sized line.

The black one worked FANTASTICALLY. The product itself isn't too thick or too thin and it's not like you're going to have to go over it a few times in order to make it look a solid color (had some issues with Hard Candy's liquid liner in that department). One coat and you're good to go. The product pot is a liiiittttlllee small, but seriously people - it costs $1. So buy 5 of them. Cheapskate.

Now I also got the silver one to try (it looks like it's chock full of sparkle on the website) & I wasn't quite as impressed. I had on a medium shade of gray on my lids with primer and I couldn't get it to show up, really :o\ mildly disappointing since it looked so sparkly and pretty on the website. It's pretty transparent, so if you want it to show up - you're going to have to apply a coat, let it dry, apply another coat, let it dry, etc... Definitely did not go on as easily as the black one did. What I did do with it was applied it OVER the black and it added a little bit of sparkle which was nice. Using it alone might be a little tricky. But for $1, it might be a nice addition to your collection for spicing up plain black eyeliner or using it along your lower lashline for some subtle bling. If you're going to pick one to try out, though - I'd go for the black.

One thing to always remember when using liquid liner is to let it dry! If you want to apply multiple coats, you're going to be wasting your time if you start going over a still-wet line with more product. You'll end up with a smudgy mess when it's all said and done. Patience is a virtue, my ladies. In life and in makeup.

If you'd like to try out some of E.L.F.'s liquid liner, you can purchase it here. As always, if you have any questions - holler at your girl. And I mean that in the least ghetto way possible. 

Thanks For Not Lying To Me.

Now, I really dislike when people say shit like:

"Oh my god I HATE Liars"

or

"I cannot stand when people lie to me"

Oh really? Cuz I know like.. tons of people who LOVE lies. That's so weird that you dislike them. Seriously, people. I think we can all come to the conclusion without having to state aloud or via the internet that nobody is a fan of liars/being lied to.

Now, getting to my point... this same rule applies to companies. We (as in, the human race) - do not appreciate you lying to us about your products. Like your shine serums that make my hair feel the exact oppposite of what you promise. Or your eye primers that actually make my eyeshadow last for a SHORTER period of time than normal; totally defeating the purpose. I just don't think it's much to ask... buying a product & expecting it to do something even vaguely simialr to what it's packaging promises. Weird, I know.

So when I find a product that shockingly does what it's supposed to, and then some, I get excited. Infact - I get very excited. I get even more excited when the said product only costs $6.

e.l.f. you have come to the rescue YET AGAIN

with your studio line's face primer

When I first pumped it out, I was surprised that it was clear since the bottle looks white & the old face primer I used (Sephora's) was a milky white color. Sephora's also smelled like old lady perfume, and this one is unscented so that's another upgrade on my part. E.L.F.'s face primer is described to give you a satiny, oil free finish & it absolutely does that. The consistency at first felt oily to me, but once I started to smooth it in - I noticed that it made my skin feel matte & very soft. It creates a great base to apply liquid foundation and powder to. The fact that it's a gel & not a cream also makes me feel like it has a greater staying power & fills in lines better. My makeup has lasted visibly longer & I can honestly say I'll be replacing Sephora's primer with this. Sephora's perfumy smelling primer also made me feel like I was making my skin dry out by using it. Imagine applying a perfumed lotion to your face everyday.. seriously can't be that good for you.

But in conclusion, I'm thrilled that I decided to order this product. I'm not going to induct it into my "Still The One" hall-of-fame just yet, but... it's on the verge. Shit like that doesn't happen overnight, though. So patience is required. Either way - shout out to e.l.f. for not lying to me. Trust me, your honesty does not go unnoticed.

My E.L.F. Studio/Mineral Giveaway

So I know I have been teasing you guys for a week or so here telling you I'm going to have a giveaway coming up and guess what.. IT'S FINALLY HERE! I am so excited to say that  I've had the opportunity to work with E.L.F. in this since they are one of my favorite cosmetic brands of all time. The products I am giving away are personal favorites of mine & they are sure to make wonderful additions to your collection.

Here's what you can win:

E.L.F.'s mineral eyeshadow in "Elegant" 

E.L.F.'s mineral eyeshadow in "Socialiate"

E.L.F.'s studio lip liner/blending brush in "Natural"

E.L.F.'s studio eye primer/liner sealer in "Natural/Clear"

E.L.F.'s studio under eye concealer & highlighter in "Glow/Fair"

and finally,

E.L.F.'s studio eyeliner/shadow stick in "Green/Moss"

And here are the color swatches for you! -

Elegant Mineral Shadow

Socialite Mineral Shadow

Natural Lip Liner

Green/Moss Liner & Shadow

So there we have it! All of the products are brand new and unopened. There are multiple ways to gain entries and here's how you can do it [please be sure to leave your e-mail in your comment!]:

• Become a follower of my blog - All followers automatically get 1 Entry
• Leave a comment on this post & this post only for 1 additional Entry 
• Follow me on Twitter (@kelspot) & Retweet a link to this contest for 3 additional Entries
• Post a Link on your Blog for an additional 5 Entries (make sure to leave me a link in your comment!)

ALL IN ALL, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE 10 ENTRIES!

Contest will end Monday September 21st (one week from today)

Winners will be chosen by a random # generator.

Love you guys! All of my followers are so sweet :o)

xoxo

E.L.F. Studio Products Review

Well I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to pair up with E.L.F. so I can tell you guys who truly amazing their brand is. For those of you who are unfamiliar, E.L.F.(stands for eyes, lips, face) is an affordable cosmetics company who has everything from body butter to lip primer. Like I said, everything is very inexpensive and many products are available for $1! Their mineral make-up foundation is only FIVE DOLLARS just to give you a comparison. You don't come by prices like that too often. Amazing.. So here's the look i created today with some of the great products from their "studio line" that they sent me:

1. These are the primary products I used..

- Mineral Eyeshadow in "Angelic" $3

- Shimmer Palette in "Sheer Sunrise" $3

- Eyebrow kit in "Light" $3

- Warm Bronzer in "Warm" $3

- Eye Primer & Liner Sealer in "Natural/Clear" $3
- Concealer (not pictured.. whoops) in "Glow/Fair" $3
(how can you beat $3 each????)

2. Here's the brow box & the bronzer, as well as the concealer/highlighter I left out of the first picture (oops!). The brow box is great, the darker side is the gel you use to fill in your brows and the lighter is the powder you use to seal it. The colors are really natural and the product applies very easily. The brush it came with is a helpful tool, as well. Packaging is sleek & compact.

The bronzer is also great. You can see the hint of shimmer right away and the four different shades combine to create a rosy/warm color. Great for any time of year. The concealer is in the shade of  "Glow/Fair" and is a great color for those whose skin isn't totally light, but kind of a happy medium between that & fair.

3. The shimmer palette & eyeshadows are both fantastic.. The shimmer palette is composed of 4 sheer creams in different hues that you can use either under or over your shadow to create a little bit of color or illumination. They make great highlighters, too and the consistency is very easy to work with.

The eyeshadow is a mineral shadow so it goes on wonderfully. The color of this is so great because it's such a pretty shimmer, but also makes a great highlighter since it has a pearly white color. Any colors that are versatile like this are great additions to your collection!

4. Swatched the shimmer palette.. you can see the variation in the shades.

Okay Here We Go!

5. So there's me with just foundation on. I always use CG's TRUblend.. Shade #2

6. Phew, much better.. Just applied E.L.F.'s Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter. The consistency of it is pretty liquidy, so it makes it easy to pat in and blend. I think it does a great job of covering and I always apply the highlighter to my brow bone. Sometimes I use it as a shadow base, but I was using other primer today so I just put on on the brow bone.

7. This is after I applied the primer which I pictured in the first photo. The primer is in stick form (think concealer stick) and I run it across my lid and then pat it in. It creates a nice smooth base to work with.

8. I applied the brow kit products and used the white shade in the shimmer palette as a base for my mineral eyeshadow. My brows definitely look a lot neater and the color matched my brows really well! You can see here how it adds a subtle shimmer to my lids, and you could definitely wear it alone if you wanted to have a simple, light eyed look.

9. I then applied the mineral shadow over top and as you can see, I now have more of a silvery color. In the corner of my lids, I applied the pink shade of the shimmer palette as a little highlight since I have a pink shirt on. Definitely works great as a brightener.. that palette is so versatile.. I love it!

10. Then I applied some white liner to my water line. I used E.L.F.'s eye brightener pencil.

11. For the pink liner on the bottom, I used the opposite end of the Primer stick which has a "liner sealer" which means you can dip it in any color shadow and it instantly becomes an eyeliner! TRULY a great piece to have! I used a color off of my "Manly" 120 palette.

12. Put on some simple black E.L.F. pencil liner and followed up with my coveted Lash Blash Mascara to finish my eyes off. I'm wearing pink & grey so this color combo worked out great!

13. Finished look! I brushed on some of the "warm" bronzer and then gave my cheeks a pinch of color with the E.L.F. blush I already had in  "Flushed".. It's a pretty mauve-y coral-y color (haha). I love this look! It's pretty and subtle and works for work, too :o) Hope you guys enjoyed it!

If you want to pick up any of these amazing E.L.F. products, head over to their website www.eyeslipsface.com .. Check their main page for fun discounts and deals! They always have stuff going on, they truly are "afforable luxury" and a great way to jumpstart your makeup collection.

and YES - that  is the hair holder backer vel-cro thing! Like I said, it's my new favorite thing!

Let me know what you guys think!
xoxo

The Long Awaited Master Set Review

Okay so I have received quite a few emails and some comments asking me to do the review of the MASTER SET by E.L.F. which I received yesterday. I have to say, this was definitely one of the best investments I've made thus far in my collection, and I'm not going to need to restock for quite some time! There are tons of pictures in this post, and I'll try to be as detailed as possible without boring you! The only things I don't have pics of (camera died!) are the tinted moisturizer, the eyelash curler, the shine eraser sheets, the travel mirror, the 2 travel cases (both are REALLY nice and very spacious.. both are black, as well) and the applicators.. Enjoy!! Let me know what you all think.. :

1. The first things I unpacked were the "super glossy lip shines". I like them because they're "super glossy" and they also have SPF 15 in them. They're not too sticky, either - which I usually expect from glosses in squeezy tubes.

2. These are the concealers they sent me. The colors are a little strange (there wasn't one for "fair skin" really..) but I am going to use the lightest shade - the consistency is a little runny so it takes a lot of blending, but it does the trick for sure.

3. These are the liquid eyeliners. I am scared of liquid liner - but now I have an excuse to give it a try. I gave the strange colors like the bronze and the blue to my mom, but I kept the black & the slate gray color. The slate gray looks beautiful and I hope I can pull it off.

4. I love these! They are eyeliner "markers" as opposed to pencils.. they kind of have a bit of a see-thru look, so if you don't want your liner to look super heavy, these are amazing. I have them in a bunch of colors now, too - which is awesome! Perfect for winged out edges, too.. take a look at the marker-like tips:

^ Eye Marker tips .. definitely cool. Hope they don't run out quickly, though..

5. These I have used in the past so I was excited about getting more of them. The double edged glosses are "plumping lip glaze" and what's FABULOUS about them is you don't feel like your lips are going to fall off from the plumping formula - but they don't smell like gross chemicals either! The glaze part is nice to have, as well.. I use it with other lip colors, too for an extra pop of shine. The lip balms at the top are just conditioning lip balms.. they sent me a few different scents and they have a little tint to them.. good for neutral lips.

6. These are the "hypershine glosses".. and they aren't kidding when they say HYPERSHINE. super duper shiny but also kind of sticky.. Don't know if I'd use them everyday but they smell pretty good, so they'll probably come out to play every so often. I like the plumping lip glazes better, though.

7. These are so cute.. they're basically E.L.F.'s "create your own compact collection (they did send me a compact but I forgot a picture.. sorry!) .. I was amazed at how many colors they sent me and I am constantly going to be switching shades in and out to keep in my purse. When you take them out of the packet, they're in little plastic snap cases so that's nice, too.. The green ones are shadows - pinks are cheeks - and the purples are lip colors.

^ and this is when my dog decided she wanted to help me open things.. she was kicked out immediately after this picture was taken :P

7. These are the lipliners.. I never use lipliner so I gave most of these to mama. I can't believe they all came with sharpeners, though! Definitely won't have to search for one of those ever again haha!

8. Lots of eyeliner pencils, too .. I like these - they're not too dark when you put them on and they're easy to control (some eyeliners are almost like crayons.. can't stand that). Plus more sharpeners! Yes pleaassseee!

9. All of the brushes and other tools they sent me. There's a cuticle pen in there that I'm excited to use but the brushes are all super super soft.. And I love that they sent a lash brush, too.. I like to have one to unclump lashes if I need to.. They definitely stocked me up in the tools department. The handles are pretty pearly white, too :)

10. These are the mascaras/brow gels.. I like them because one side is water proof and one side isn't (i feel like waterproof mascara isnt always totally necessary). The clear one is obviously the brow gel, but the other side is clear mascara which could be useful. I'm going to test it out - if you have suggestions let me know.

11. These are the pressed powders, bronzers, and liquid blushes/bronzers.. I really love all of these - their pressed powders are really light and don't wash me out which is hard to find in a pressed powder. The bronzers have glitter in them (not too much, but they give you a nice glow) .. the liquid blushers are really pretty, too:

^ Liquid blush.. gives a really nice shimmery effect :) pretty. lots of colors, too.

12. Now I am usually sketch about creme eyeshadows but these are really subtle and are going to work GREAT as base colors or highlighters. Sometimes creme shadows are just globby and streaky and not good .. These are really nice and light and they come in a ton of colors.

^ creme eyeshadows .. love them.

13. I love blush sticks in general but these ones are absolutely perfect. Not only do they SMELL PRETTY, but they come in nice, neutral colors that work for everyday & evening looks. Once again, you get a nice sparkle with them, too.

14. These are the pressed powder blushes.. I gave some of these to mom since some of the colors are too dark for me - but they're nice if you want a cheek that isn't quite as sparkly. I did keep the lighter colors since I'm fair skinned - so once I try them out I'll let you know.

15. These are the 'eye brightening colors' and I was surprised by the variety I was sent! In all of them there are 4 colors that are totally blendable and many of them have a variety of mattes, shimmers, and satins. I like having color schemes already put together for me - so these are the perfect solution.

^ this one was my favorite .. gonna use it for smokey eyes.

16. Look at all these polishes! Plus they sent me toe separators, a nail block, and some nail polish remover pads. I cannot wait to try out some of these colors.. and I got everything from white to black (& everything in between!).. Can't wait to try these out.

^ and look how cute the packaging is! This was my favorite shade.. but I think the "drippy" decorations on the bottle are so cute!!

This collection came in the biggest box ever! I was so excited when I saw it.. All together I paid about $130 for this thanks to the discount code I found (thanks, E.L.F.! you guys are great).. I am very happy with this set overall and can't wait to start using it everyday! If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll answer you ASAP! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend & the review! If you like what you see - www.eyeslipsface.com

xoxo

Excitement!

I just put in an order with eyeslipsface.com ..

got free shipping on my order over $25!

the code is FREELTDSHIP

and if you've never shopped them,

try not to pass out when you see how inexpensive they are!

it's a beautiful thing.

I'm going to do a review when I get everything.

In other news,

Monday is over!

xoxo